Your Hand in Mine
by PenguinOfTroy
Summary: Walls don't necessarily need to be torn down. Some walls can be scaled instead. For the first time she felt like that was possible. She was ready to make that leap. Post-OUAC ONE-SHOT


__DISCLAIMER: "Castle" and all its wonderful characters are the property of ABC and Andrew Marlowe. Much as I enjoy playing with them, I unfortunately do not own them. Please don't sue me._  
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Kate Beckett grabbed Richard Castle's hand and she knew. She just knew.

His mother was still waxing on about her son's inability to embrace their relationship, clearly caricaturing reality, but it was an engaging caricature, one she listened to with rapt attention. Martha's performances demanded that kind of attention and besides there was so much to be gleaned by reading between the lines. It was much like reading the Nikki Heat novels and being able to suss out the real messages Castle had hidden within his fiction. There were also things to be learned by gauging his reactions to Martha's embellishments, so much that Kate couldn't help but smile at his distress. Outside she lent him the support of her hand, while on the inside she chuckled at how similarly gifted mother and son really were with the art of exaggeration.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Castle murmured as he tilted his head back against the couch.

And she knew. She was ready to have this. All of this This is where she wanted to be. This who she wanted to be with. His hand in hers, surrounded by family, enjoying life.

The show ended and Martha took her bows as though she was performing in an amphitheater before an audience of thousands, not just the four of them. And Kate Beckett knew that she wanted this vibrant woman in her life as well. She found she knew many things tonight with a certainty she'd never had before.

After they'd congratulated Martha on the performance - Kate congratulated, Castle gave a begrudging "It was lovely, Mother" - they all worked together to put all the furniture back in order.

Alexis drew her into a conversation about where she got her coat. But it became clear that there was more on her mind when she kept glancing at her dad anxiously.

When Martha called Castle over to help her assistant with something, Alexis shifted nervously.

"What's on your mind Alexis?" She asked. "You seem distracted."

"Has Dr. Parish...said anything about me? To you?" The girl asked with wide eyes.

Kate smiled warmly and touched her shoulder reassuringly.

"Lanie has nothing but praise for you, Alexis. You don't need to worry."

"I know, it's just..."

"Listen, I know not getting into Stanford was a blow, but you have no reason to doubt your capabilities. You are a competent, strong young woman. There's no question about that."

Alexis nodded shyly. Humble to the end.

And Kate Beckett knew that there could be no more questions about the man that Richard Castle was, because he produced a daughter like this.

She knew.

She searched him out from across the room. He caught her eye and raised an ever expressive eyebrow. She responded with a smile and bid Alexis goodbye.

Martha came over immediately and fawned over her in a way that only Martha could. She was surprised, as she always was, when Castle's mother pulled her into a hug, full of warmth and life. She relished the feeling, remembering the comfort of her own mother's hugs.

And she knew that she could be a part of this family if she accepted it. If she accepted him.

Once Martha released her with a piercing look and a meaningful squeeze of the shoulder, Castle made his way over to them, ready to see her out.

"Thanks for having me over, Castle."

"Thanks for being my moral support, I needed it," he said with a dramatic flair clearly inherited from the mother he pretended to resent.

She grinned at that.

"Oh it wasn't that bad," she said as she slipped on her gloves.

"Easy for you to say, that wasn't your own personal Roast," he whined, pulling open the door for her.

"Come on Castle, you know you'd _love_ to be Roasted."

"With actual comedians, not my mother!"

They moved out in the hallway, walking shoulder to shoulder towards the elevator.

"I enjoyed it," Kate said. "Your mother is something else."

"Oh she's something alright," Castle replied. "Something out of hell."

"Ha, see Castle, you say that but you know you love her. You like the way she makes life interesting."

"No, I like the way _you_ make life interesting. Her kind of interesting is the kind I could use less of."

They stopped in front of the escalator door and she pushed the call button. She looked up, found him staring at her with an earnest expression.

The air charged around them as it often did when they made eye contact, especially when they both knew it was time to part, yet neither wanted to leave the others company.

In her mind she saw the Wall - the metaphor she'd chosen for that incorporeal barrier that existed to keep her from emotional harm. She'd thought that the wall needed to be taken down, brick by brick, before she could move forward. She was wrong. She knows that now.

Walls don't necessarily need to be torn down. Some walls can be scaled instead. And for the first time she felt like that was possible. She was ready to make that leap and trust that he'd be on the other side waiting to catch her.

_What would Nikki do?_ Kate thought to herself. And once again, she knew.

Nikki would act on impulse. So she did.

She closed the gap between them, tipped up on her toes and placed a whisper of a kiss on his cheek. His breath hitched. His skin buzzed. Slowly, she drew her nose across the line of his cheekbone and brought her lips to his. The kiss was gentle and sweet. Honest. Real. His hands found her neck and her jaw. Grabbing hold as though to confirm she was real, he tilted his head and met her stride. Honest. Real. It left her tingling for more, and he acquiesced.

She pulled back slowly and met his steaming eyes with a coy smile. The elevator dinged.

"Goodnight Castle," she whispered.

Then she backed into the elevator car, heart swelling at the stunned, giddy look on his face. He seemed to try to respond but couldn't form the words. Smooth.

On ride down she couldn't stop the grin from spreading over her face. It was like drawing open the curtains in a dark room, like feeling that bright happy sensation of warm sunlight pouring in and seeing everything glow. There was nothing like it. Nothing except this.

She stepped off the elevator in a daze.

Her phone buzzed.

A text from Castle sat in her inbox.

_About freaking time._

She laughed, a big, bold, full-bellied laugh.

The phone buzzed again, another message.

_Thank you._

And she sent back a quick reply.

_Always._

**A/N – Had to write a happy piece after the thoroughly depressing _Routines_ and this is what came out. _Castle Gets Ready for Bed_, meet _Kate Frickin Wakes Up_ ) (If you don't get that, read _Routines _to find out.) I have to credit the band Explosions in the Sky and their song "Your Hand In Mine" for the title and inspiration for this one. It's a beautiful song, no lyrics, but it says oh so much.**

**Whoops, I completely forgot to thank to Tycho77 for being my beta on this one. Thanks so much.**

**Per usual, please review. A simple "Like" or "Dislike" is always welcome.**

**Fight On for Ol' SC and You'll Never Walk Alone**


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